There are kids out there that like comics and like realism and have long been starved for illustrated stories of the past. Hand them this book, and then hand it to all the science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts too, because this is a book for everyone. Impossible to forget, undeniable in its delights.
We’re almost halfway through the year, so why not take a gander at seventeen of the great graphic novels/comics for kids out so far (or about to come out)? I have read a LOT of 2019 comics so far. These are the ones that I’ve enjoyed the most. Let’s see if you agree (and if you can name any I haven’t seen yet that you absolutely adore).
Blisteringly honest with a respect for young readers that is sadly uncommon, Jerry Craft has created something revolutionary: An everyday black boy in a comic for kids.
This year, ALA established the first Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table (GNCRT). Long gone are the days when we would pooh-pooh anything with a panel or a little sequential art. And so, in celebration of their status, I cast aside the “graphic novel” moniker. Long live, comics! Long live, panels! And long live speech balloons!
Peter & Ernesto: A Tale of Two Sloths By Graham Annable First Second (an imprint of Roaring Brook Press) $17.99 ISBN: 978-1-62672-561-4 Ages 6-10 On shelves now To quote the wise words of MC Scat Kat, “opposites attract”. Particularly when those opposites are best buddies. The idea of the carefree soul, untethered by earthly woes, […]
Sci-Fu By Yehudi Mercardo Oni Press $12.99 ISBN: 9781620104729 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Not too long I attended a local comic convention in the Chicago area call C2E2. I’d been to the New York Comic Con once or twice, but that was small potatoes compared to this extravaganza. While there I had the chance […]
The Cardboard Kingdom Edited and Illustrated by Chad Sell Written by Jay Fuller, David DeMeo, Katie Schenkel, Kris Moore, Molly Muldoon, Vid Alliger, Manuel Betancourt, Michael Cole, Cloud Jacobs, and Barbara Perez Marquez Knopf (an imprint of Random House Children’s Books) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-5247-1937-1 Ages 9-12 On shelves June 5th The other day I listened […]
I’d be lying to you if I said that I wasn’t desperately reading graphic novels until lunchtime yesterday, in an effort to make darn certain that no comic went unconsidered for today’s list. Comics are my love and delight. Did you know that there’s a new comic award out there, by the way? The Excellence in […]
Bolivar By Sean Rubin Archaia (a division of BOOM Entertainment) $29.99 ISBN: 9781684150964 Ages 7-12 On shelves November 28th It took a year and a half for me to notice, but by then it was too late. I moved to the Chicago area from New York City in what can only be described as a […]
Real Friends By Shannon Hale Artwork by LeUyen Pham Color by Jane Poole First Second (an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, Macmillan) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-62672-785-4 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. The autobiography assignment. I don’t pretend to know precisely why teachers give it out or what they hope child readers will get out of it. […]
One Trick Pony By Nathan Hale Amulet Books (an imprint of Abrams) $14.95 ISBN: 978-1-4197-2128-1 Ages 9-12 On shelves March 14th Let us say, for the sake of argument, that you are a wonderfully successful author/artist of a New York Times bestselling graphic novel series about historical events. Hazardous historical events. Let us say that […]
Okay! I’ve been looking forward to this particular list for a while. But first, a quick note on what we’re calling these things. Not too long ago the very funny Glen Weldon wrote a piece for an NPR blog about whether or not we should be calling these books “comics” or “graphic novels”. Weldon is […]
Happy day after the day after Thanksgiving. Today I’m going to start you off on serious news story and that will pretty much set the tone for the day. I live in Evanston, IL. It’s home to Northwestern University and like a lot of college towns it’s a pretty liberal place. We sit just […]
Snow White: A Graphic Novel By Matt Phelan Candlewick Press $19.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-7233-1 Ages 9-12 On shelves now I’d have said it couldn’t be done. The Snow White fairytale has been told and retold and overdone to death until there’s not much left to do but forget about it entirely. Not that every graphic novel […]
Kid Beowulf: The Blood-Bound Oath By Alexis E. Fajardo Color by Jose Mari Flores Prologue Color by Brian Kolm Amp Comics for Kids (an imprint of Andrews McMeel Publishing) $10.99 ISBN: 978-1-4494-7589-5 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. This is a true story. I started college in 1996. Earlham College. Richmond, Indiana. Nice place. Little Quaker […]
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